The SMART board of directors voted unanimously to award the contract to Alameda-based Stacy and Witbeck/Herzog, a joint venture that will work on track, bridges, station platforms and grade crossings.

"We are very experienced in this type of work; it's all we do — transportation construction," said George Furnanz, chief operations officer for Stacy and Witbeck.

He predicted the project would be a stimulus for the local economy.

"Local (business) participation is important to Marin and Sonoma and it is important to us," he said. "We have a lot of local (subcontractors) and suppliers."

He also said he expected as many as 1,000 jobs to be created by the first phase of the project. The Stacy and Witbeck/Herzog team have worked on transit projects for Caltrain, Portland's Tri-Met and the Utah Transit Authority.

The first contract will cover work from Santa Rosa to the Marin Civic Center. Work from the Civic Center to downtown San Rafael will be handled in a separate contract.

"The downtown San Rafael piece has more complexities with the Puerto Suello Hill tunnel and the traffic interfaces where the train will cross several major arterials in downtown San Rafael," said Gamlen, who said the second phase would begin later this year or in early 2013.

The first phase will focus on a re-working of the existing rail line, which has seen better days.

"It's an old patchwork quilt of rail pieces that are bolted together on wooden ties that have become fouled over time," Gamlen said. "We will build brand new continuously welded rail on concrete ties on brand new ballast."

Old timber bridges, like the one over Miller Creek in North San Rafael, will be rebuilt with new piles and concrete. SMART will also build a new bridge over Novato Creek. The old bridge was subject to flooding and officials were concerned heavy rains could affect train service. It will now be built up another five feet to take it out of the flood plain, Gamlen said.

The Guerneville Road station in Santa Rosa has also been added into the mix; previously, the northern terminus was to be Railroad Square. That helps improve the average number of housing units along the train line, satisfying requirements set down by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area's transportation funding agency. The commission's backing has been needed to help the project.

"There is not a requirement of even a single unit having to be built," said Farhad Mansourian, SMART's general manager, adding that train opponents have said the project will spawn development near train stations.

SMART is saving about $14 million in costs because bids for work came in low, Mansourian said.

The bike and pedestrian pathway that is to be part of the system running adjacent to the rail line is not part of the first phase. But SMART officials said it is part of future phases and that federal dollars are being sought to help finance some of that work.

Money used for the first phase is in hand from sales taxes and grants and can be spent now. SMART also has $171 million in bond money, but is holding those dollars in an escrow account until an ongoing effort to repeal the sales tax via the ballot box is resolved. Rail opponents say SMART is not delivering what taxpayers voted for — a Larkspur-to-Cloverdale train and pathway.

Clay Mitchell, spokesman for RepealSMART, said the rosy picture presented by SMART at Monday's meeting still needs to be borne out.

"While I'm encouraged by the fortuitous circumstances that allow taxpayers to get a bit more for our money, the proof will be in the pudding," he said. "SMART has repeatedly issued whatever numbers and projections provide them the best political advantage, only to change them later as reality set in. My fear is that the figures shared (Monday) were PR, and not empirical."

Mitchell said the public is owed accountability and the right to a vote.

"The right thing to do is to let the voters ratify or refuse the changes that have been made to the project," he said.